Tent



Sept. 19, 1933. B|XENsTE|N 1,927,387

TENT

Filed June 15, 1932 ATTORNE).

Patented Sept. 19, 1933 J UNI'TED STATES PATENTOFFICE l TENT 7 MarvinBixenstein, Los Angeles, Calif. Application June 15, 1932. Serial No.617,372

2 Claims. (01. 135-14) .My invention particularly relates to acombinationv closure and dirt expelling means for tents.

An object of the invention is to provide a means whereby the dooropenings of tents may be closed in suchmanner that animals, insects orreptiles will bev prevented from entering, and at the same time theoccupant may have-ready entrance to and egress from the tents.

Another object of the invention is toprovide a means whereby the doorclosures may be operated to completely or partially cover the dooropenings, and which when not in use are adapted for disposition out ofthe way.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door closure which isadapted for attachment to tents of all character.

Tents of the umbrella type, to which my improvement is more particularlyadapted, are provided with canvas flooring stitched to the lower ends ofa plurality of sidewalls, a peaked top in turn being stitched to theupper ends of the side walls. Door openings extend from the flooring tothe upper part of the tent, being bounded at opposite sides by a pair offront wall sections.

Threshold strips span the lower part of the door openings, being securedby stitching to the flooring and to' the lower ends of thefront Wallsections. In practice it has been found that by reason of the attachmentof the threshold strips to the front wall sections of this particulartype of tent, it is impossible to effectively remove dust and dirtaccumulations from the floors thereof.

For this purpose it is necessary to apply foot pressure to the thresholdstrips in an attempt to dispose the same flush with the floor, so thatthe dust and dirt accumulations may be swept thereover, Such pressuresapplied to the threshold strips put undesirable strains upon the frontwall sections of the tent and likewise cause the threshold strips tocollapse and break away from thewall sections.

As it is impossible to completely flatten the threshold strips duringsweeping operations, a large part of the dust and dirt will accumulatein the corner formed rearwardly of the front wall sections at its pointof connection with the floor and contiguous to the depressed part of thethreshold strips, and it is only after successive pressures have beenapplied to the strips that any material part of the accumulations can beswept from the tent, it being then necessary .to resort to the use ofdust pans to remove the remainder.

It is another object of my invention to provide a closure for tent dooropenings-which when not in use may be extended over the flooring in amanner to receive dust and, dirt which is swept thereon, the closurebeing adapted for subsequent elevation to swing the sweepings over thethreshold strip for deposit exteriorly of the tent.

It is likewise an object of my invention to provide a closure of thischaracter which may be moved from its closed position and folded up anddisposed out of the way, or extended over the floor of the tent forgathering and expelling sweepings therefrom.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will be-madeevident in the following description which may be better understood withreference to theaccompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a perspectiveview of a tent having my improvement applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view illustrating my improved closure indoor closing position.

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view of the tent with theclosure flap closing the door opening.

'Fig. 4 is a view corresponding to Fig. 3 and illustrates the closureflap in position to gather sweepings, the dotted lines indicating theposition of' the flap after the sweepings have been expelled from thetent.

Fig. 5 is a front elevational view of the tent of my door closurethereto.

For, the purpose of illustration, this invention is shown as beingapplied to an umbrella tent. This particular type of tent comprises acollapsible frame structure, not illustrated, which supports thesidewalls 10, and a top 11, secured by suitable stitching ,to the upperends of the sections 14 and 15 and at its lower edge by stitching to thefloor covering 12. The purpose of the threshold strip 17 is to hold thelower ends of the front wall sections 14 and 15 in position and toprevent insects, reptiles, etc. from entering the tent.

My improved closure for sealing and unsealing illustrating theattachment of a modified form the door opening 16 and sweepings ejectingmeans comprises a flap or ejecting member 18 of material correspondingto that used in the manufacture of the tent proper. The closure flap 18is secured by rows of stitching along its lower end to the thresholdstrip 17, the stitching at this point forming a hinge 19. Bands 20 and21 of fabric material are secured by stitching along the longitudinaledges of the front wall sections 14 and 15 and correspondingly similarbands 22 and 23 are secured by stitching along the longitudinal edges ofthe closure flap 18.

Cooperating locking members 24 and 25 are secured to the bands 20, 21,22 and 23 connected as above stated to the edges of the front wallsections and the closure flap, respectively. Slide fasteners 26 and 27comprising connecting means are movable upwardly to cause theinterengagement of the locking members 24 and 25, so that the closureflap 18 will seal the door opening 16 and may be pulled downwardly todisengage the sealing flap 18 from the door opening. When the sealingflap 18 is not in use, it-may be rolled up and disposed immediately tothe rear of the threshold strip 1'7, in which position it is out of theway of the occupants of the tent.

Eeretofor'e, considerable diiflculty'has been encountered insatisfactorily cleaning tents of this particular type, by reason of thefact that the dust and dirt accumulations could not be entirely sweptover the threshold strip 17, which latter forms a part of standardumbrella construction. In order to remove the dust and dirt from thistype of tent, it is necessary to apply foot pressure upon the thresholdstrips in an endeavor to force at least a part of the strip into aposition relatively flush. with the floor. This pressure is generallyexerted at substantially the central ,part of the threshold strip andconsequently great strains are put upon the frontwall sections 14 and15, which has a tendency to cause the top 11 of the tent to be pulleddownwardly above this point. Also, after successive pressures have beenput upon the threshold strip 17, it follows that the strip will collapseby reason of the stitching connecting it to the front wall sections 14and 15 pulling out.

To obviate this objection, my improved closure flap 18 may bepassedthrough the door opening 16 and by reason of its hinge connection19 can be laid over the tent iloor covering 12. Previous to thisoperation, the floor of the tent will have been swept and the sweepingcollected in a pile. The sweepings are then swept upon the closure flapl8, whereupon the free end of the closure may be grasped by the hands ofthe operator and moved upwardly, so that the sweepings will gravitatedown the inclined surface of the closure flap and over the thresholdstrip to the ground outside of the tent. Also, the sweepings may bequickly ejected from the tent by throwing the free end of the closureflap through the door opening 16.

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated a modified form of my invention whichcomprises a closure flap 28 hinged at'29 to the thresholdstrip 30, snapfasteners or buttons 31 being provided for securing the closure flap tothe front wall sections 32 and 33. In the form here illustrated, it isnoted that flap 28 only partly closes the door opening 16, leaving theupper end of the door opening uncovered for the purpose of ventilation.

It is obivous that the closure flaps and threshold strips may be in theform of a single piece of material, in which case the material istransversely stitched to form the hinge at the required point, thisstitching defining the threshold strip therebelow. Likewise, the closureflap, threshold strip and floor covering of the tent may be in the formof a single piece of material and attached to the tent in the usualmanner.

In this manner I have provided a novel closure for tent door openingswhich not only can be sealed against inclement weather, dirt, insects,reptiles, etc., but which also serves as a means for expelling dirtaccumulations from the tent.

While I have described the illustrated embodiments of my invention asattached to the umbrella type of tents, it should be obvious that thedevice may be attached to other types of tents.

It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that there aremany changes in the details of construction and relative arrangement ofparts which will readily occur to them, and I do not, therefore, desireto be particularly limited to the exact disclosure which I havepresented in the specification and drawing for the purpose ofillustrating the principles of my invention. I desire only to be limitedto the scope of my invention as I have defined it in the appendedclaims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a tent of the class described, the combination of wall membersforming a tent enclosure, there being an opening in one of said wallmembers; a threshold strip below said opening the upper edge of saidstrip forming the lower wall of said opening, said lower wall of saidopening being in a plane higher than the ground level; and a memberadapted to be extended from the upper edge of said threshold strip ontothe floor of said tent and being adapted to receive sweepings and thelike while in such a position, said sweepings and the like being ejectedfrom said tent by swinging said member outwardly from said tent.

2. In a tent of the class described, the combination of wall membersproviding a tent enclosure, one of said wall members having a thresholdstrip extending upwardly from the floor level of said tent, and havingan opening above said threshold strip, the upper edge of said thresholdstrip forming the lower wall of said opening; and an ejecting membersecured to the upper edge of said threshold strip adapted to extenddownwardly in said tent, from the upper edge of said threshold strip tothe floor of said tent and having a portion lying flatly on said floorto receive sweepings and the like, said sweepings being ejected byswinging said ejecting member outwardly through said opening.

MARVIN BIXENSTEIN.

